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August 29, 2007

Islamism: James Ujaama & Abu Hamza - Part 3 of 3

This article by Adrian Morgan (Giraldus Cambrensis of Western Resistance) appeared earlier today in Family Security Matters and is reproduced with their permission.

Why Won't James Ujaama Testify Against Abu Hamza?
(Part Three of Three)

Terror Training in Bly Oregon

Earnest James Ujaama appears to have spent considerable time in London. He had returned to Seattle in late 1999, and according to his original indictment of August 28, 2002, Count One, Section E, in the fall of 1999 (clause a) he had told others that he was sponsored by unindicted coconspirator 1 (Abu Hamza) and had attended Al Qaeda training camps. Around October (b) he had gone to Bly Oregon where he and others engaged in firearms practice. In October and November (c), Ujaama discussed the need for extra training, to be able to attend Afghan training camps, "the commission of armed robberies, the building of underground bunkers to hide ammunition and weapons, the creation of poisonous materials for public consumption, and the firebombing of vehicles".

Around October 1999 (d), Ujaama had used a commercial copy center to fax a proposal to Hamza. In this fax, Ujaama compared the Bly terrain to that in Afghanistan, that the property in Bly could "store and conceal guns, bunkers, and ammunition" and he invited Hamza to stay at Bly as a safehouse. As a result of this fax, around November 26, 1999 (e) two individuals, sent as emissaries of Hamza, arrived in New York on an Air India flight and went from there to Bly via Seattle. From late November to December (f) Hamza's "emissaries" inspected the Dog Cry Ranch in Bly. They engaged with others in firearms training and watched a video on "improvised poisons".

While he was at Bly (f), one of the "emissaries" claimed to be a "hit man" for Osama bin Laden. Ujaama returned to London in either December 1999 or January 2000 (h). Around February (i), the two emissaries stayed at Seattle where they expounded the teachings of Hamza, and one of them gave urban tactical training. In or around 2000 (j) Ujaama had worked on the Supporters of Shariah (SOS) website, spreading anti-Western messages.

There is more in the indictment, but it should be mentioned that the two "emissaries" sent by Abu Hamza to inspect the property at Bly were Haroon Rashid Aswat and Oussama Abdullah Kassir. Aswat was a UK national of Indian descent who had grown up in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Oussama Kassir was the emissary who claimed to be a hit man for Osama bin Laden. A Swedish national of Lebanese origin, Kassir was the individual who allegedly provided "urban tactical training" in Seattle in February 2000. According to the indictment, between May and June 2002 (Count One, Section E, clause k) Kassir had contacted a cooperating witness to discuss the US government's investigation, and discussed whether to return to Seattle to "assess the situation". These two individuals were those who in December 1999 had been traveling in a vehicle owned by auto mechanic Semi Osman, who then resided at the Bly Ranch, when it was stopped by a police officer over a faulty brake light. Both Kassir and Aswat appeared to "lay low" after June 2002, aware that the US were investigating their trip to Oregon.

Despite deciding not to testify against Abu Hamza, to this end even fleeing to Belize in December 2006 to escape US authorities, James Ujaama has already pleaded guilty for his part in the above indictment. At no stage in his court appearances, nor in his now-broken plea agreement, has he contradicted these accusations originally made by the US authorities.

Haroon Rashid Aswat

Haroon Rashid Aswat certainly was closely connected with Abu Hamza. He had been photographed sitting in a taxi with his mentor. In early 2003 a young Muslim had been killed in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. Upon his person had been the passport of Haroon Rashid Aswat, and according to some reports, such as one from National Public Radio it was widely assumed that he had died. In 2005, in the immediate aftermath of London's 7/7 bombings, Aswat's phone number had been found to have been contacted by members of the suicide team which carried out the July 7 attacks, stated the London Times of July 21, 2005.

The Times had initially reported that Aswat had been arrested in Sargodha, Pakistan. This was repeated by several other news sources. On July 28, 2005, the Times reported that Haroon Rashid Aswat had been apprehended in Lusaka in Zambia. US and UK antiterrorism officials traveled to Zambia to interview him. The Times repeated claims that he had called two of the London bombers at least 20 times from his cellular phone. According to CNN, US authorities had located Aswat in South Africa a month or so before 7/7, and while the British resisted demands to have Aswat apprehended there by the US, Aswat had "slipped away".

It appears that in Zambia there was disagreement between US and UK officials about which country should have custody of Aswat. British counter-terrorism officials denied that Aswat was suspected of causing the London bombings. Aswat was deported to London, and was immediately arrested upon his arrival and taken to the high-security Paddington Green police station, pending an extradition request from the US.

In August 2005, it was reported that US authorities unsealed an official charge (registered on June 21) against Aswat, naming him in the Bly terror camp plot. On August 8, 2005, the Times reported that Aswat was "baffled" by the US extradition order. On January 5, 2006, a British judge ruled that Aswat could be extradited to the US. Aswat has since fought extradition, claiming his human rights would be infringed in the US. The US has given assurances that Aswat will not face a military commission, and on November 30, 2006, the UK High Court ruled that his extradition can go ahead.

On July 24, 2005, three days after Aswat's arrest in Zambia, the Seattle Times reported that Seattle prosecutors had been blocked by the US Justice Department from bringing criminal charges against Aswat in 2002. Aswat had stayed for two months at the Dar-us-Salaam mosque in the city in the first part of 2000. It has been suggested by John Loftus, a former Justice Department prosecutor, that Aswat was employed by MI6 as an agent. Though this is not beyond the bounds of possibility, there were other reasons for delaying any official arrest warrant of Aswat before March 2004.

The US would have certainly known before 2005 that Aswat was alive, despite reports of his alleged "death" in Afghanistan. An international terrorism inquiry was underway, code-named "Operation Crevice" in Britain. Its members were associates of both Haroon Rashid Aswat and US citizen Mohammed Junaid Babar. The latter individual, like the other Crevice plotters, was a member of Al-Muhajiroun. He helped to set up a terror training camp in Malakand in Pakistan, which some of the Crevice plotters attended. At the end of March, 2004 individuals in Britain and one Canadian (Momin Khawaja) were arrested. Five of the Britons were convicted on April 30, 2007 of conspiring to cause explosions. Just before the arrest of these individuals, Haroon Rashid Aswat had met with Momin Khawaja and Junaid Babar in February, 2004 in London. The leader of the Operation Crevice plotters had met Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer (two of the London bombers) on several occasions in early 2004.

Oussama Kassir

In November 2003, Oussama Kassir had been jailed for 10 months in Sweden for possessing illegal weapons at his Stockholm abode. On October 24, 2003, Judge Ann-Britt Jansson ruled there was insufficient evidence to charge him under the country's newly-introduced terror legislation. Kassir had earlier been jailed in Sweden in 1998 for threatening a policeman.

Kassir, of Lebanese origin, had arrived in Sweden in 1984, becoming a citizen in 1989. In 1991 he had been convicted of being part of a gang which smuggled 63 kilograms of hashish into Sweden, and also of illicit arms possession. For these crimes, he had received a six year jail sentence.

He was arrested on Sunday 11 December 2005 at Ruzyne airport in Prague, Czech Republic. This had happened as a result of a sealed indictment and an Interpol arrest warrant made in connection with this. He had been traveling from Stockholm to Beirut. Kassir was placed in custody at Pankrac prison in Prague.

On December 13, federal prosecutors announced that a "criminal complaint" had been unsealed at US District Court in Manhattan. The complaint alleged that Kassir had spent up to two months in Bly, and witnesses said he had trained others to use firearms, set up perimeter patrols at the ranch and that Kassir was"in possession of at least one compact disc about improving poisons." Kassir had been unhappy at the low turnout of trainees at Bly. Local authorities in Oregon have maintained that there was never more than a dozen people at any one time at the Dog Cry Ranch.

His wife Zeinab claimed shortly after his arrest that he was "mentally ill", and had sought psychiatric therapy on several occasions. She claimed that her husband could not stand being in prison, even though he had spent many years in jail for his previous crimes. There were doubts about extraditing Kassir to the US. An extradition treaty was made between the US and Czechoslovakia in the 1920s, state legal commenters McNabb Associates, but Czechoslovakia no longer exists since it was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In May 2006, the Czech Republic and the US signed an addendum on mutual legal assistance.

Kassir had his first extradition hearing on July 19, 2006 at Prague City Court. Kassir claimed: "I have never started a terrorist camp. I have never been to Oregon. I am not a terrorist." So far, Kassir has not been sent to the US.

Abu Hamza and Terror Camps

It was only after Ujaama's two-year jail term came to an end in April 2004 that the US publicly issued its own indictment against Abu Hamza on April 24, 2004. This indictment had been made on May 26, 2004. The complete 11-count indictment can be found at Findlaw.com. Hamza's first two counts refer to the kidnapping of 16 Western tourists in Yemen on December 1998, which led to the deaths of four hostages. Hamza had been arrested in 1999 after the Yemen kidnapping, but had not been charged.

The remaining eight counts refer to James Ujaama and his contacts. Counts Three to Six relate to the setting up of a terror camp in Bly, along with plotting to stockpile weaponry and sponsoring individuals to set up the camp. Counts Seven to Ten relate to providing material support and resources to terrorists and to a foreign terrorist organization (facilitating violent jihad in Afghanistan). These charges relate to activities carried out in the southern district of New York: Count Seven relates to sending people to New York to facilitate breaches of Title 18, Section 2339A of the United States Code. This included sending coconspirators (Ujaama and Feroz Abbasi) to Pakistan where the pair separately entered Afghanistan. Count Eleven refers to the breaching of Executive Order 13129, issued by Clinton on July 4, 1999, which banned the sending of goods services or funds to Afghanistan, as these could be used by Al Qaeda or the Taliban. This order had been extended at the time Hamza allegedly sent Ujaama to escort Abbasi to Afghanistan via Pakistan.

While Hamza was at Finsbury Park Mosque, since 1998 attempts had been made by trustees to bar him from accessing the mosque. When these incidents happened, he would lead his followers to engage in illegal obstruction of roads off St Thomas' Road where the mosque was situated. Sometimes his followers would occupy a road near Finsbury Park station, causing the 106 bus to be rerouted. I used to take this bus journey on frequent occasions between 1997 and 2002. I was surprised at the few police attending, and how no arrests were made, even though obstruction is a crime. While some individuals prayed in the road, more militant members stood on the sidewalk, scowling in an intimidating manner at passers by.

After the indictment was made Hamza was arrested and detained on May 27, 2004, in connection with the US extradition request. Despite this, Hamza was again officially arrested on August 26, 2004 under British terrorism laws. He was detained in Belmarsh prison, awaiting his trial which concluded on February 7, 2006. His leadership at Finsbury Park mosque was handed to his second-in-command, a man named Abu Abdullah. This man was of Turkish origin, who had been a soccer coach named Attila Ahmet before his conversion to radical Islam in 1998. Abu Abdullah took over the role of leadership of the Supporters of Shariah until September 1, when 14 people were arrested in London. Abu Abdullah was among those arrested.

The arrests led to revelations of plans in Britain to create training camps, involving Hamza and his followers. Some of these training camps had happened long before the alleged attempts to set up the training camp in Bly, Oregon. The raids in London coincided with raids upon a large Islamic school, set within 58 acres at Marks Cross, Crowborough, in East Sussex. This massive building, with more than a 100 rooms, had become the Jameah Islameah boys' school in September 2003, though by 2005 an inspection showed that only nine pupils were registered.

The building and its spacious grounds had been purchased by four individuals in 1993. Abu Hamza had visited the school five times during the 1990s, bringing with him his followers. They had camped in the grounds. Apparently Hamza had considered buying properties in Wales and Lancashire with the intention of creating terror training camps, before he had settled on the notion of using the ranch in Bly, Oregon. Hamza had also considered purchasing the Jameah Islameah school for use as a jihad training center.

Four of the individuals who had been arrested on September 1 had also been in Spain in April 2006 and been placed under police surveillance. Three of these individuals had earlier been under surveillance in 2005 when they were in Spain. These individuals were thought by authorities to have planned to set up a terror recruitment center in Granada province. Granada has rugged terrain not dissimilar to Afghanistan. The four individuals who were in Spain in April 2006 had also crossed into North Africa and were thought to have there met jihadists and attended extremist camps, stated Spain's Interior Ministry.

The statement claimed: "At the beginning of April the suspects crossed through a land border in the north of Spain and left two days later in a commercial ferry towards north Africa. A short time later they returned to Spain by the same route and left Spain in the direction of France by a land frontier. They only used Spanish territory as a passageway. Interested foreign intelligence services were notified. There were four other men on the trip with them."

Abu Abdullah, Hamza's second-in-command, was charged with eight counts, including soliciting to murder (advocating murder of non-Muslims) and publishing a statement urging people to commit acts of terrorism. Others who were arrested with him were charged under Section 6 (1) of Britain's Terrorism Act 2006 with receiving training in terrorism. This related to two "terror camps" which were held in a wooded area near Lyndhurst in Hampshire. These took place from April 28 to May 1, 2006, and again on June 2 to June 4, 2006.

Shortly after the September 2006 arrests, one British newspaper claimed that in addition to the Jameah Islamiyah school, MI5 were scrutinizing five more British locations as possible terror training camps.

There are arguments that suggest that James Ujaama's decision not to testify against Abu Hamza could jeopardize Hamza's extradition to the US. Hamza's lawyers argue that testimony from Feroz Abbasi was gained via "torture" while he was detained at Guantanamo, and this could be used to block the extradition. Other arguments are that Hamza himself may be subjected to torture in the US - the same argument made by Haroon Rashid Aswat in his appeals against extradition. Only James Ujaama knows why he will not testify against Hamza. Hopefully his decision will not be of itself prevent Hamza from facing justice - not least justice for his involvement in the Yemeni kidnappings, which British law seems unable to achieve.

Postscript

Abu Abdullah was forcibly evicted by police from Finsbury Park Mosque in February 2005, and the locks were changed. A few days later, the BBC proclaimed that there was a "new start" for the mosque. One of the five named trustees of the "reformed" mosque is Mohammed Kassem Sawalha. This individual is a former Hamas operative, who was known in the West Bank as "Abu Abada".

Hamas is a Muslim Brotherhood operation, and it is no surprise that the mosque was taken back from the "extremists" by the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB). This organization was founded by a senior Muslim Brotherhood leader, Kemal al-Helbawy, in 1997. The BBC reported that the mosque takeover by MAB had been made with the support of the Metropolitan Police and the Charities Commission. A video accompanies the article. Azzam al-Tamimi, spokesman for the MAB, said: "MAB was approached by a combination of people - the old trustees, the police, the Home Office, MPs, and we were asked could we, if we had the opportunity, run this mosque."

It should be noted that Azzam al-Tamimi supports Muslim suicide bombings, when they involve Israelis. He said to the BBC in November 2004 that it would be a "noble cause" to be a suicide bomber against Israel, and said that he would do it "if I had the opportunity". If such Muslim Brotherhood extremists are regarded by British police, Home Office, members of parliament and its Charities Commission as "moderate", then it is no wonder that Britain is so riddled with Islamist fanaticism.

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Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at August 29, 2007 4:49 PM

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